Continuous Flow Fabrication of MoS2 Scrolls for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Controlling the morphology and structure of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides has potential applications in renewable energies, electronics, and electrocatalysis. Transforming readily available 2D MoS2 sheets into scrolls with active edges is of interest in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Here, we demonstrate a facile, efficient, and environmentally friendly process for scrolling 2D-MoS2 sheets under continuous flow using a vortex fluidic device (VFD). The scalable process can be optimized for high yield transformation with respect to processing parameters in the VFD, notably, the tilt angle of the rapidly rotating tube, flow rate, concentration, and choice of solvent. The active edges of the MoS2 scrolls showed high activities toward the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction at low overpotentials with a Tafel slopes of 41 mV.dec(-1), making it an attractive material in electrolytic water splitting.

Automated summary

Researchers demonstrate a facile and efficient method to scroll 2D-MoS2 sheets using a vortex fluidic device. The resulting MoS2 scrolls with active edges show high electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity, making it a promising material for water splitting.